SASKATOON - Fr. Andrew Britz, OSB, longtime editor of The Prairie Messenger, died Feb. 14 at the age of 71 years.

The Benedictine monk and priest, who edited The Prairie Messenger from 1983 to 2004, was known for his strong editorial voice in the Catholic weekly newspaper published by St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster, Sask.

TORONTO - In 1966 Fr. Frederick Power, S.J., was assigned to be the editor of Canada’s longest running Catholic magazine. He was 42 years old and had no idea that he’d still be at the helm 46 years later. But earlier this month, the 500th edition of Canadian Messenger of the Sacred Heart was published under Power’s stewardship.

Power will turn 88 in May but says he has no plans to step down from the magazine that has been continuously published since 1891. Asked if he has worked out a succession plan for his retirement, the venerable editor smiled and said: “I’m working on it.” In 1997, when he passed the 31-year tenure of a previous editor, he thought: “I might as well keep going.”